Autism Diagnosis
|VeryWell://Making Sense of the 3 Levels of Autism> By Lisa Jo Rudy | Reviewed by Joel Forman, MD "Back in the "olden days," prior to 2013, people diagnosed on the autism spectrum were assigned a specific diagnostic category. They might have been given a diagnosis of Asperger syndrome, autistic disorder, or PDD-NOS (short for pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified). In rare circumstances, they might even received a diagnosis of Rett syndrome or childhood disintegrative {divergence}." "Autism spectrum {divergence}, as of 2013, became a single diagnosis encompassing everyone who, at least in theory, would have fit into one of the prior five categories of autism. Anyone who had already been diagnosed with one of those disorders was "grandfathered" into the new autism spectrum {divergence}." "To address this issue, the DSM-5 diagnostic criteria includes three “functional levels,” each of which is defined based on the amount of “support” an individual requires to function in the general community. By providing an autism spectrum diagnosis with a functional level, at least in theory, it should be possible to draw a clear picture of an individual’s abilities and needs."|VeryWell://Making Sense of the 3 Levels of Autism> By Lisa Jo Rudy | Reviewed by Joel Forman, MD The Three Levels of Support Level 3: “Requiring Very Substantial Support” "Severe deficits in verbal and nonverbal social communication skills cause severe impairments in functioning, very limited initiation of social interactions, and minimal response to social overtures from others. For example, a person with few words of intelligible speech who rarely initiates interaction and, when he or she does, makes unusual approaches to meet needs only and responds to only very direct social approaches." Level 2: “Requiring Substantial Support” "Marked deficits in verbal and nonverbal social communication skills; social impairments apparent even with supports in place; limited initiation of social interactions; and reduced or abnormal responses to social overtures from others. For example, a person who speaks in simple sentences, whose interaction is limited to narrow special interests, and who has markedly odd nonverbal communication." Level 1: “Requiring Support” "Without supports in place, deficits in social communication cause noticeable impairments. Difficulty initiating social interactions and clear examples of atypical or unsuccessful responses to social overtures of others. May appear to have decreased interest in social interactions. For example, a person who is able to speak in full sentences and engages in communication but whose to-and-fro conversation with others fails, and whose attempts to make friends are odd and typically unsuccessful." Asperger's |BBBAutism://Gillberg's Criteria for Asperger's {Divergence}> "1.Severe impairment in reciprocal social interaction (at least two of the following) (a) inability to interact with peers (b) lack of desire to interact with peers © lack of appreciation of social cues (d) socially and emotionally inappropriate behavior 2.All-absorbing narrow interest (at least one of the following) (a) exclusion of other activities (b) repetitive adherence © more rote than meaning 3.Imposition of routines and interests (at least one of the following) (a) on self, in aspects of life (b) on others 4.Speech and language problems (at least three of the following) '''(a) delayed development (b) superficially perfect expressive language © formal, pedantic language (d) odd prosody, peculiar voice characteristics (e) impairment of comprehension including misinterpretations of literal/implied meanings '''5.Non-verbal communication problems (at least one of the following) (a) limited use of gestures (b) clumsy/gauche body language © limited facial expression (d) inappropriate expression (e) peculiar, stiff gaze 6.Motor clumsiness: poor performance on neurodevelopmental examination (All six criteria must be met for confirmation of diagnosis.) " Diagnostic Tests Blood and Urine |TheGuardian:/New test can detect autism in children, scientists say> References Category:Autism Spectrum Category:Atypical Autism Category:Autism Research Category:Psychology